President Donald Trump on Tuesday stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is “wasting their time” if it is investigating the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, dismissing speculation surrounding the Senator’s sudden passing.
“I don’t see a lot of evil there. I know there’s all sorts of conspiracy theories going along, and I think the FBI is wasting their time if they’re doing that,” Trump said when asked in the Oval Office whether he was aware of the bureau looking into Graham’s death and if he had gotten any updates about a reported FBI search of the late lawmaker’s Washington, D.C., home.
In response to another question, Trump told reporters he didn’t know why the FBI had apparently searched Graham’s home on Monday, less than 48 hours after the Senator’s death.
Graham, 71, died on Saturday due to a heart condition known as an aortic dissection, a tear in the wall of the body’s largest artery, as a result of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to preliminary findings from the Washington, D.C., medical examiner’s office.
The office said the cause and manner of Graham’s death would be formally recorded after toxicological and microscopic testing is completed.
Read More: What to Know About Aortic Dissection, the Condition That Killed Lindsey Graham
Trump, who said he had been briefed by White House physicians about Graham’s death, compared Graham to his father, saying that the Senator had a “very similar problem.” Graham’s father died of a heart attack at the age of 69.
“I wish he took better care of himself,” the President added of the late Senator. “I say you can solve that problem.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement on Sunday following Graham’s death that the agency was “assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.” He did not provide further information about the nature of that assistance.
“Senator Lindsey Graham was a devoted public servant,
